Dame Lesley Regan appointed Women’s Health Ambassador

At balance, we’re really pleased to hear of this news and wholly support Dame Lesley Regan in her new position. Our founder, Dr Louise Newson comments:

“This certainly is a step in the right direction. I have known Professor Lesley Regan for a few years and she is very inspirational and formidable. She absolutely understands the priorities to enable all menopausal and perimenopausal women to access good quality and evidence based menopause care and treatment. I am really looking forward to working with her to improve menopause treatment to everyone!“

Department of Health and Social Care Press Release

Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology to drive system-level changes to close the gender health gap.

Women’s health and care will be further improved following the historic appointment of Dame Lesley Regan as the government’s first ever Women’s Health Ambassador for England.

Bringing with her a raft of expertise spanning a 42-year career in women’s health with particular interest in miscarriage, period problems, gynaecological surgery and menopause, she will support the implementation of the upcoming women’s health strategy. The strategy aims to tackle the gender health gap and ensure services meet the needs of women throughout their life.

She continues in her role as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Imperial College London St Mary’s Hospital Campus, and remains in active clinical practice.

Women’s Health Ambassador, Dame Lesley Regan, said:

Having spent my career working with and caring for women, it is a great honour to be appointed as Women’s Health Ambassador for the first government-led women’s health strategy in England.

This is an important opportunity to get it right for women and girls, and make a real difference to 51% of our population by addressing the inequalities that exist across society.

I look forward to working with women, girls, health services, charities, policy makers, the government and other key partners to implement this strategy.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, said:

The healthcare system needs to work for everyone, and I am committed to tacking inequalities which exist within it, particularly for women.

Closing the gender health gap is critical for a fair health and care system in the future. I look forward to working closely with Dame Lesley on our shared mission to ensure all women feel listened to by the health and care system and are able to access the support and services they need.

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This is the latest step taken by the government to ensure women’s healthcare needs are met. This includes taking action to increase access and reduce the cost of HRT meaning women can pay a one-off charge equivalent to 2 single prescription charges, currently £18.70, for all their HRT prescriptions for a year.

The creation of a prepayment certificate will mean women can access HRT on a month-by-month basis if need be, easing pressure on supply, while keeping the cost of HRT low. This system will be implemented by April 2023.

To ensure women can reliably access HRT, decisive action has been taken including the appointment of Madelaine McTernan as chair of the HRT supply taskforce and issuing of serious shortage protocols to even out distribution and provide greater flexibility to allow community pharmacists to supply specified alternatives, where appropriate.

Read the full news statement and source here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dame-lesley-regan-appointed-womens-health-ambassador